Marius Posted September 22, 2009 Report Posted September 22, 2009 I am wondering who this long-bearded man with the hat and the sword is. Is that Shoki? Why then is he accompanied by a shishi and not an oni? Why doesn't he have his traditional Chinese official's cap with those two flapping "antennas" http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=28125 Quote
Marc BROQUIN Posted October 13, 2009 Report Posted October 13, 2009 Hello Mariusz, Just a little reminder I took from the Koji Hoten from W.-F. Weber : Shoki is a mythologiocal personnage from China. He has been integrated in Japanese mythology and seems to play the same role as Saint-Georges in Europe. He is the tamer and exterminator of all the devils. SHO-KI (in Chinese CHONG KW'EI) was after the Chinese tradition, the guardian angel of emperor Hsüan Tsong (in Japanese Gen-Sô) to whom he revealed in a dream his sad story. He had been, as he said, a student in law & political economy during the reign of emperor Han Wu Ti (in Japanese Kan no Bu-Tei), but he failed to the examinations and committed suicide, prefering death as life without title and decoration. The emperor being made aware of his sad life end, commanded to burry him with great honnor and at the charge of the state. In sign of gratitude for so much respects, Shoki's spirit would have promised to devote himself to the expulsion and extermination of all China's devils. That is for the origin of this tale. Both apperances are legit for Shoki : one with a large round straw hat (perhaps for outside the palace), one with a chinese bonnet (perhaps for court or inside palace) and the 2 "antennas" are perhaps the ends of the surrounding & attaching ribbons. A lot of other informations are described in the Koji Hoten (unhapilly in french for english readers), but too extended to give there a short recap. Best regards Marc Quote
Marius Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Posted October 15, 2009 A lot of other informations are described in the Koji Hoten (unhapilly in french for english readers), but too extended to give there a short recap. Hi Marc, sorry for my delayed answer - many thanks for this valuable information BTW, I can read French to some extent, are there by chance any online excerpts from this rare book? Quote
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